NOAA mendeteksi bintik hitam tersebut di belahan utara Matahari. Bintik hitam terbaru yang terdeteksi NOAA sejak melakukan pengamatan intensif 5 Januari 1972 itu diidentifikasi sebagai #10.981.

Bintik hitam merupakan daerah di permukaan Matahari yang mempunyai suhu lebih rendah daripada daerah sekitarnya. Hal tersebut menyebabkan wilayah bertekanan tinggi yang memicu gejolak energi berkekuatan besar dan jika terus meningkat akan melepaskan energinya dalam bentuk badai gelombang elektromagnetik.

“Dalam hal ini, ini adalah awal badai Matahari yang akan meningkat secara bertahap dalam beberapa tahun ke depan,” ujar Douglas Biesecker, pakar dari Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Munculnya bintik hitam merupakan pertanda dimulainya siklus peningkatan aktivitas Matahari.

Peningkatan aktivitas Matahari mengalami siklus 11 tahunan yang diperkirakan akan kembali memasuki periode puncaknya tahun ini. Sejak April 2007, NOAA sudah merilis prediksi bahwa dimulainya puncak aktivitas Matahari yang diberi nama Solar Cycle 24 sekitar Maret 2008, maju atau mundur enam bulan.

Saat terjadi badai Matahari, partikel-partikel bermuatan listrik akan dipancarkan Matahari ke segala arah dan bisa mencapai Bumi sebagai badai gelombang elektromagnetik. Peristiwa tersebut dapat merusak rangkaian listrik, di satelit, jaringan telekomunikasi, jaringan listrik, dan membahayakan astronot di antariksa.

Bisa dibayangkan bagaimana jika sistem telekomunikasi, listrik, dan navigasi global positioning system (GPS) lumpuh karena sarana utama pendukungnya mati. Mesin ATM tidak berfungsi, jaringan seluler mati, dan penerbangan berhenti. Badai Matahari bisa menghambat aktivitas manusia di hampir seluruh penjuru dunia.(NOAA)

originally posted by kompas

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• badai matahari dan telekomunikasi
• peningkatan aktivitas matahari
• rangkaian badai matahari

As the world waits on a decision from Mumia Abu-Jamal’s May 17 hearing before the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, new questions are being raised as to whether the original jurors had access to all available information. On October 6, Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal (EMAJ) issued a press-release stating that recently disclosed photos taken by press photographer Pedro Polakoff amount to “more evidence that basic investigative protocol was violated by police from the earliest moments of the killing.”

Pictured: Rap artist Immortal Technique holds a poster depicting several of Polakoff’s photos. From the SF BayView’s report on the May 17 hearing.

Dr. Michael Schiffmann of the University of Heidelberg unveiled these 26 photos in May at a press conference in Philadelphia. (View four of the photos here). The story was picked up by independent media, but no mainstream media outlet has acknowledged it. Readers are encouraged to contact the media directly, and have prepared a list of media contacts and a sample letter.

In anticipation of the Third Circuit Court’s ruling, supporters in Philadelphia, the SF Bay Area and around the world are preparing for emergency “day after” actions. They continue to highlight the connections between Mumia’s struggle and other political prisoners — such as Leonard Peltier, the Cuban Five, the SF 8, and the MOVE 9. Meanwhile, Mumia continues his prolific journalism production from death row, with two new stories on the housing crisis in the US, as well as stories on Jena, Blackwater, and many more (see below).

Related Coverage: Listen to May 17 courtroom audio ||| “In Prison My Whole Life” Premieres October 25 (view trailer) ||| Pacifica Radio’s Margaret Prescod Interviews Mumia ||| Uprising Radio’s Sonali Kolhatkar Interviews Mumia ||| Mumia Abu-Jamal: On the Road to Freedom? ||| The Trial of Billy Cook ||| Attention MOVE: This is America! ||| “Wettlauf gegen den Tod” Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal has also issued audio reports on the following topics: FISA, Ahmadinejad, Pakistan, War Resistance, Congress, 9-11,NYC Racism, Tennis, Los Cinco, MOVE, Troy Davis, Kenneth Foster, Haditha, Katrina, Michael Vick, Ward Churchill, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Elections, Think Tanks, War, Vietnam, Alberto Gonzales, and more.